The Days of Bone
by NumberofWattage
Summary: The Arrancar of Aizen's Army were decimated in the Invasion of Hueco Mundo and the Battle of Fake Karakura. They were not, however, gone. New places can be confusing but being dropped into an alternate universe? What is the conflict between the Soul Society and the World of the Living? Why can't they return to Hueco Mundo? Why is a mysterious voice haunting them?
1. Chapter 1

**The Days of Bone**

Disclaimer: I don't own things like Bleach.

Chap.1: The Mourning

* * *

_Seireitei, Three Months Ago, A Parallel Universe_

It was almost one hundred and fifty years since it was discovered.

After the fallout of the destruction of Hueco Mundo spilled into the World of the Living, a single object was found in the emptiness. The object was dormant when the Shinigami salvage team arrived.

Almost a century and a half later, forgotten in storage in the Department of Research and Development, something triggered within it and the unidentified object was found by researchers when it began broadcasting.

The timing appeared random and the signal nearly impossible to decipher, but around the same time disruptions occurred in the Dangai and the World of the Living, bringing the object to the forefront of the mind of the Twelfth Division Captain, Kisuke Urahara, who had founded the Department one hundred and ten years ago.

The disruptions continued completely out of his hands for over three months.

Something was wrong.

* * *

_Yammy, Earlier in the First Day, Bleach Universe_

"Stand still, you little..." Yammy felt his blow miss as his fist obscured the two Shinigami "Bugs!" his outstretched right arm was consumed in a swarm of flickering blades and the dignified looking captain reemerged. The howling Arrancar was left with a stump, the flesh stripped away and the bone disconnecting, what was left below the elbow was flung away as he flailed in pain.

"Ah, point to you, Kuchiki." the other, rougher Shinigami yelled. "One arm to one leg, and let's call the head three points.

The Kuchiki guy shot him an annoyed glance. "Have you lost interest in a one on one fight, Zaraki?"

"Not much of a fight anyway, let's just make it a bit of a game. I'll take you on once this guy's out of the way."

"In any case, taking the head would be a kill. Any kill shot should be three points, agreed?" Captain Kuchiki replied seriously.

"Hmph, I guess. That mean you gonna play?"

"Yes, now what is the worth of the torso?"

"One for nonlethal torso hits but only if he's really hurt by it." Yachiru called from her perch.

"Thank you, Vice-captain Kusajishi."

"Stop ignoring me!" Yammy clenched his teeth so hard that he felt several crack and chip "You maggots, I'm the strongest Espada, the Cero! We're not playing!"

"Oooh, the strongest? Well, you can't fight worth shit." Zaraki flicked his sword in a dismissive way. "That Nnoitra guy was way more fun."

Yammy felt his rage boil over, he might even mutate again if they kept pissing him off. "Call this shit?" he charged another cero before his face.

A cascade of razor edges washed over his back and neck. A powerful slash ripped his chest and belly open. The cero backfired into his face and Yammy's eyes rolled back into his head. He collapsed back, destroying several structures under his massive form.

"Yep, shit."

He didn't know just how long he was out, but the mutt was yapping away when he came to, the Shinigami nowhere in sight. "Why do you keep following me, dumb dog?" It kept wailing in his face.

He felt tired, his wounds stretching open with each breath. Just a quick rest, then he would find those two bastards and...everything went dark again.

* * *

_Aaroniero_

"San no Mai, Shirafune." The impaled young woman still had those half dead eyes, but her broken sword reformed into an occupied space.

"Wha-?" Aaroniero managed, Kaien Shiba's face melted away to reveal the new ice blade's true victim, a tank of red liquid with two tiny floating skulls. One of the Espada's heads was skewered.

She looked slightly stronger now. Her mouth was moving, she was saying something to them. They couldn't hear, they could only hear the crowing of the man they had brought so near the surface for his face, his memories, and his abilities.

"You really shouldn't have underestimated her." Kaien Shiba cackled in their mind.

"This is impossible."

"You say that a lot, you didn't learn much from me after all, Arrancar. _This_ was not impossible. _This _was karma, and I can guarantee that Sosuke is going to get his too."

They, their Ressureccion, and Rukia Kuchiki all collapsed.

No! She'd murdered them!

"Nooo, it hurts! It hurts!" the shrill voiced undamaged head desperately connected it's mind to all of Los Noches, shrieking for aid. "Save me, Lord Aizen! You promised. You said I would be freed from my suffering." it knew that Aizen, that all of the other Espada could hear it, feel it's pain. There were a few pangs of guilt from them, more often recoils of disgust or twinges of amusement. From Aizen himself there was absolutely nothing, no response. "It hurts, it hurts, no, no, no, no, nononononono, noooooo!"

"I-I can't..." the damaged head fell open, split in half. The other head's screams died after a moment as well.

"Heh, morons. You did good, Rukia. Try not to die on us. Don't worry, I'm free for real this time."

* * *

_Szayle Apporo_

Let it end, please, let it end.

His brilliant mind was shattered by the centuries of pain he endured, a blade piercing his palm, slooowly reaching his chest.

A mind once teeming with ideas and calculations had given up on finding an escape after the first fifty years. After that Szayle Apporo Granz just wanted the pain to stop.

The tip of the zanpakuto reached it's target.

The pain ended.

Then he arrived in Hell.

He wished for that simple pain to come back.

* * *

_Zommari_

Ressureccion had been the mistake, Zommari realized. Rendering himself practically immobile in the face of a million blades, losing his head over what he had believed to be his trump card being nullified, he felt foolish over his ravings.

He'd always known about this moronic screaming fool just under the calm exterior. It was why he meditated, why he spoke so softly and carefully. Drunk on power, befitting his Aspect as Baraggan described it, but not something he was proud of.

The nameless captain moved past him. "The reason I am killing you is you pointed your sword at my pride." his own sword was beside the Arrancar's face.

Zommari knew his death was near. He pumped his arms in the air "Banzai, banzai, hail Aizen, Banzai!" not the most dignified final words, but he had pretty much thrown dignity out the window when he started screaming at the Shinigami to "Accept my Amor!"

Oh well.

* * *

_Nnoitra_

It wasn't right. The Shinigami had done what Nnoitra always wanted for himself. He would die fighting.

Why was it some random Shinigami, though?

He didn't care about the Shinigami captain. It was a good fight, but there was only one person he could have been satisfied with finishing him, he only realized it just now. She was also the person he himself had put in the worst position to do so, even if he could make her do it. The middle Espada stumbled and looked past his final opponent at the green haired child propped against the debris with fading eyes.

If he hadn't been such a coward, hadn't blindsided her, she would have ended him eventually, he was sure of it. Done what she should have done from their first fight, Aizen's plans for his dear Espada be damned. Too late now. Too late for regrets.

He _did_ have regrets, though. He regretted that Nelliel hadn't done it herself.

Her eyes opened as he pitched forward.

"Nnoitra?"

* * *

_Ulquiorra_

Ulquiorra Cifer's bat like wing was mostly disintegrated by now, the humans looking oddly horrified at the nearing demise of their enemy. "Kill me." He was in pain but didn't, couldn't express it. He briefly wondered if that made them think he couldn't feel the pain. He could.

The boy stared at him. He really was just that clueless, wasn't he?

"Hurry, I can no longer fight. You will never get a chance to finish me if you don't"

"No."

The arrancar stared, what was that?

"I won't. This isn't how I wanted to win." He yelled. How surprising.

Stupid child, didn't he realize that he would fade into nothingness unless purified by a Shinigami zanpakuto. Ulquiorra wasn't going to beg, though, not to an enemy. "Up to the end, you never did as I thought." He turned his attention to the girl "I was just becoming interested in you humans. Are you afraid?" he reached out on a sudden impulse to touch her for... for what? Comfort? Who's? Was it... his own? There were so many questions.

Even with her Quincy friend injured, she had spared the time to watch her former captor die. Was she hurting? Would she cry? Over him? Why, what could she possibly see to relate with in him? "No, I'm not afraid."

Of course. "I see." She moved to grasp his hand but caught only a handful of dust as he finished fading.

"Now I see." It was a lie, he didn't understand her feelings, the boy's feelings. He did, however understand that it was very... human of them. They embraced their feelings, even towards him.

Perhaps, somehow, they really were better for it.

Perhaps... he was even a little sorry to go.

Ulquiorra Cifer was scattered over the desert surrounding Las Noches.

* * *

_Baraggan_

The King of Hueco Mundo would not die quietly. Not with a whimper. He still had enough of his body to destroy his enemy, the usurper who had pressed him into service. The other two, Harribel and Starrk, could meekly fall while still shackled to the bidding of their Shinigami overlord, but Baraggan Luisbairn would give his last breath in pursuit of what he alone desired. His head!

"You will die with me." he flung mighty Grand Ciada. The round insect who had somehow killed him recoiled in shock but the black axe soared past him at it's true target.

"You will die at my hands. You will regret giving me this power. I am a king, a god. I will not die like this. Die, Sosuke Aizen." Baraggan spat at the hateful monster.

The Segunda Espada never got to see if his blade reached the target. The last thing he saw was Aizen turn slightly to calmly observe the death of one of his deadliest assets from the corner of one eye, entirely unconcerned by the spinning projectile.

* * *

_Starrk_

"Black." The powerful captain called, playing the final move in the deadly game. Black? Starrk wasn't wearing any...

Starrk slashed at the white coat in front of his face and saw the other man far beneath and inside his guard an instant before his blade crossed the shadowed hole in his chest. Ah, didn't know that counted for a colored area. It wasn't really painful, his mind was already unfocused and distant from the severity of his wounds. He felt a surging sensation, like everything in his body was forcing it's way towards the wound, and began to fall.

'Am I just that stupid, to keep fighting even after I lost her? Maybe she rubbed off on me a bit after all. She'd just love that.' The Captain watched him fall and Starrk remembered that small knowing smile as he destroyed Lilynette. He had somehow known, probably by that single wolf's independence from Starrk's own obvious will, exactly what he was destroying. That Captain had known in that instant that he had won.

Perhaps dying wasn't the worst thing he could do now. He honestly didn't know if he could wake up each day knowing that Lilynette wouldn't be there. Not that he tended to wake up _every_ day in the first place, but...

The Primera's gaze drifted towards his leader. "Sorry, Aizen. I can't repay you now." Just like with Baraggan, Aizen didn't even acknowledge his proclaimed strongest ally as he fell. Was that man worth all this?

It had bothered him for some time that Aizen's only response to the death of each Arrancar while the Shinigami took little to no losses was an unconcerned, almost satisfied smile and continued daily meetings over tea. "Don't worry about it, Primera, Grimmjow can still be of use with his remaining arm.", "Those Fraccion were of little consequence.", "Starrk, after Nnoitra falls you are to retrieve the girl and return to me. Make no move until Ichigo Kurosaki and Kenpachi Zaraki have lowered their guard."

Ah well, what was he supposed to do about it now? That was his response to everything, right? Every bit as much as the smile was Aizen's. "What am I supposed to do about it?" Lilynette was right about that.

Starrk's vision blurred "I'm not alone." He might as well be, for all the good he did anyone.

"I'm not alone." He should have done more. The others, his companions might have survived with the Primera backing them. They didn't have to like it. They would still be alive.

"I'm not alone." Lilynette, sorry. They were supposed to stay together forever, right?

"I'm not-" Darkness claimed his mind before he even landed.

* * *

_Welcome, Coyote Starrk, Lilynette Gingerback. So nice of you to join us._

* * *

_Karakura, The First Day_

"Starrk. Starrk! WAKE UP, DUMBASS!" a high, panicked voice shrieked.

The Arrancar gagged slightly as he woke up to a powerful smell "Ugh." It was dark. Wasn't it still daylight when he-?

"Lilynette!" Coyote Starrk jerked upright and his hand slipped on something. "You're okay?"

"...Y-yeah." She sounded shaky but unhurt in his head.

Starrk slumped a bit in relief "And me too?" Squinting in the dark, he saw that there was garbage scattered from a crushed trashcan nearby. He must have landed on it after that captain struck him down.

Oh, right. Starrk brought a hand to his chest but found only the fur collar from his Los Lobos release and his normal Hollow hole with no slash across it. What? This was defiantly Karakura but there was no damage to the surrounding buildings. He was sure he had put a cero through that one. He could also sense a lot of fairly weak reiatsu signatures. Humans?

"What the hell happened? I thought I was...and you..." the little girl's voice paused in his head "Where are we, anyway?"

"Well, it can't be the fake Karakura." he muttered "They must have switched back, and if the real town wasn't destroyed, that means we lost, huh?" Even if he did owe a debt, Starrk couldn't quite bring himself to be too upset if Aizen had lost. Their master's plans only became more unsettling the more he heard of them. But if it was...

"Who the hell saved us?" Starrk whispered.

"Um, how would I know?"

"I don't-" he cut himself off. This was no human, an Arrancar was approaching. "Quiet Lilynette."

It only took a moment before..."The Primera!" A slim male Arrancar with a long fanged helmet dropped beside the Espada. It was one of those kids from the Segunda's Fraccion. What was his name? Starrk fidgeted as he tried to remember.

"Hm? Aren't you one of Baraggan's? You're...?"

"Ggio Vega, sir." Sir? That was new.

Starrk frowned "Yeah. I defiantly saw you die."

"Uh, yes." Vega looked like he was trying to hide his confusion and anger "I remember."

"Like, nothing left." Because Starrk was nothing if not tactful.

"Yes, Primera, I know."

"Eh, sorry. I think I was too. Is anyone else around?"

"I-I woke up just a minute ago. You're the first I've seen, sir."

Hm? Baraggan's Fraccion were usually less than polite with him, in spite of his rank. Of course, Baraggan never really seemed to like him much. This guy was freaking him out a bit with the "sir" business. Whatever.

He felt the area out with his pesquia. "Hmm. No Shinigami, that's a good start, and I'm picking up several Arrancars in all directions. Can't pick out any individuals." He also felt some unusually strong humans, though Karakura was a hotbed of spiritual activity anyway. The residents almost had to average a bit higher than normal humans to cope with it, that was apparently the entire point of invading in the first place. A few of them seemed oddly strong even for that, though, and were moving.

"Head North and circle the area East, I'll go the opposite, understand." Vega nodded "Good, signal if you find anyone above Fraccion rank, will you? Also... do you sense those strong humans? The mobile ones?"

"No. Wait, yeah I got them!" Vega's expression became predatory.

"Stay away from them as best you can."

Ggio Vega looked sharply at the Espada. "I assure you that I can handle-"

"I don't care." Starrk cut him off "We're scattered and don't have a clue what's going on. The last thing that we need is attention." He gave the younger man a piercing look "Understand? We're regrouping _only._"

"I...yes, Master Primera." Vega muttered, jaw twitching. He sonidoed, the paper littering the ground whirling in his wake.

Starrk sighed, glad that his partner hadn't given herself away. It was probably best that one of Baraggan's men didn't learn his and Lilynette's real connection. There was almost no doubt the old man would try to kill her and regain the top spot. He dropped out of Ressureccion and the small arrancar girl materialized before him and looked at her hand as though to ensure it wasn't fading away. Her chin started to wobble as she looked at her partner "You scared the crap outta me, you moron."

"What?"

"You were gonna give up." she really was going to cry, wasn't she? Yep, she looked at the ground and big wet tears began dripping from her cheeks and the tip of her nose. "I was gonna to die for you, asshole."

He crouched beside her "Hey, you-" she punched him in the nose, her identical reiatsu signature negating his dense hierro. Starrk fell and backward clutching his now bloody nose "Ooow." he moaned. "Feel better?"

She rubbed her uncovered eye and hiccuped "A little." She giggled unexpectedly, though she was still sniffling

"What?"

"You just ordered Vega around. I'm sooo proud of my big bad Espada."

Starrk rolled his eyes and gingerly felt his nose. "I guess I'm really not in the mood for assholes tonight." He sat up with a groan. "Anyway, lets move."

"Right away, Master Primera, sir!" she mockingly saluted him.

"Shut up." he growled but patted her head gently.

At least she alright now.

* * *

_Seireitei, Twelfth Division_

"Lost it."

"Again?"

"All readings have returned to normal. It stopped transmitting the new signal and we didn't get a clear trace on where it was going other than somewhere in the World of the Living." Akon said tiredly. "It's back to the old repeating signal."

Captain Kisuke Urahara frowned "This cant go on. It's been ripping holes in the universe for months now, do you know the paperwork involved in that?" he tried a lame joke, Hiyori would have hit him for it if she'd been on duty.

"Paperwork that you never do." Mayuri Kurotsuchi muttered "I have much better uses of Nemu's time than covering your reports, Captain."

Urahara rubbed his eyes "Almost fifty hours. That was the most intense burst of activity we've ever gotten from it. If we can't stop it we need to find whatever is triggering these episodes."

He glanced at the dimly glowing _thing _that had been seemingly randomly bursting energy for two days. He could have sworn that it was watching him too. "It's going to kill us all at this rate." What was it doing?

Asilo.

* * *

**_NumberofWattage_**_- Yeah, haven't posted anything in months. Anyway, this is my new ongoing. Basically Arrancar from the Bleach Universe mysteriously show up in an alternate universe where everything went nuts about 150 years ago. I'm gonna also start posting omakes at the end of chapters starting with the next one, sort of a continuation of Arrancar Encyclopedia, that will give a bit of an examination to the alternate universe setting._


	2. Chapter 2

**The Days of Bone**

Disclaimer: I don't own things like Bleach.

Chap. 2: The World as We Know It

* * *

Everybody on Earth was spiritually capable, the human race had been for a century and a half. Ever since Hueco Mundo was obliterated, displacing half a dimension's worth of reishi onto the relatively low reishi World of the Living, the rest to the more resistant Soul Society. Imagine the surprise of the early nineteenth century human race to find dead relatives wandering the streets with chains hanging off their chests and sword wielding spirits bouncing off rooftops.

The nations and major organized world religions reacted predictably and hilariously. According to textbooks, anyway.

The uproar between both worlds was incredible, Central 46 of Soul Society calling for the humans to have their reiatsu forcibly diminished and memories modified on a global scale, the outraged Human nations independently opposing the presence of invasive spirits. That part went on for a while, it was early 1902 before everyone began talking like adults.

By 1915 relations were cordial between the worlds, The recently established United Nations of the Living recognizing the need for a balance of souls between them and agreeing allow and aid the Shinigami while wealthy Soul Society citizens took to visiting the culturally vast World of the Living publicly. The Human Nations which had united in their opposition to Soul Society maintained their cooperative spirit and approached the concept of reishi based technology collaboratively, taking the field in a mechanical direction of advanced transportation and weaponry as opposed to the organic minimal nature of the Shinigami equivalent.

Something about the Hollow type reishi fallout from the former Hueco Mundo sometimes manifested certain abilities in the rare individuals with especially powerful spirits. Fullbringers, as they came to call themselves, were usually picked up by competing government agencies until the worldwide Pharus organization, founded in 1950 to relieve reconstruction after the Collective War, established it's Xcution branch in August of 1989. Xcution was comprised of over five hundred agents worldwide overseen by Pharus and the New United Nations to corral deceased spirits for Shinigami transport and combat the threat of newly formed Hollows that cropped up from stubborn Pluses.

Cooperation between the World of the Living and Soul Society continued until November of 1997, when a Shinigami Captain and his human wife was murdered. The circumstances of the murder were heatedly disputed but blame eventually fell on a relative of the Shinigami victim for starting a family of Humans. Central 46 bristled at an accusation against one of the five Noble Clans and revoked diplomatic relations at the insult.

With tensions escalating, Pharus and the New U.N. unveiled Elysium, a system based in the Shinigami's reishi technology and a certain Fullbringer's special ability which redistributed the reiatsu of pluses back to Earth for immediate reincarnation without the input of Soul Society and declared the balance of souls a lie for spiritual superiority.

Access to and from Soul Society through official means was banned by both sides that same year as Xcution began training Fullbringers to combat Shinigami. The three children of the tragic inter-species family were taken in by the organization, the eleven year old boy awakening his latent powers.

In September of 2001, strange and powerful beings began to appear from apparently nowhere and engaged and were killed or captured by Xcution operatives. These sightings continued for almost two months, mostly focused in a small area of Japan, Karakura, with scattered encounters worldwide.

The final surge of sightings occurred in October. Xcution was dispatched, leading local Pharus peacekeeping forces.

The now 16 year old Ichigo Kurosaki was not in Karakura at that time.

* * *

_Karakura_

Rain pattered on Lilynette's helmet and she blinked. The weather in the world of the living was weird, falling water and such. It felt good, though, and made a pleasant sound on her mask fragment. She grinned slightly at the thought of what the unconscious Arrancar she had discovered face down in the mud would think when he awoke.

Charolette Chuhlhourne, fortunately was completely out cold. Or unfortunately, considering that she had to half drag him away. She was easily strong enough to heft his weight, but the muscular Fraccion was too broad for her narrow shoulders and arms to carry easily without slipping and she kept dropping him on his face.

A few of the drops were even accidental.

He wouldn't wake for some time. His reiatsu was alarmingly low, almost undetectable, but he was generally uninjured.

Just like the rest of them.

The girl was letting her mind wander. That was why she didn't notice the presence nearby until she heard raised voices and heavy footsteps from a street adjacent to theirs.

"Crap." She tossed the musclebound Fraccion under a row of hedges and dove after him just as shadows loomed around the corner from the sparse lamplight.

"-heard it was big as a house."

"Bigger, it caused a lot of damage when it landed. I don't envy the guys who have to transport the damn thing."

"The biohazard, either. Don't know what it was, but I heard it turned Tsujimoto's arm to dust while it was still unconscious. Would have killed him if they hadn't..."

"Sh!" They were humans. Three humans wearing a sort of gray uniform body armor. Lilynette could barely see in the dark that they carried some sort of long barreled gun that were connected to some sort of pack on their backs.

"You see something?" one asked.

"Not with you two gabbing like that. I do sense..." Lilynette held her breath and tried to lower her energy output.

"You can stop searching, human." A familiar deep voice called "I will not hide from mortals, though I do find it odd that you could sense me in the first place."

"Arrancar!" one of the humans cried out and the trio scattered in a well trained evasive move as a figure crashed down from above their heads, shattering the well kept pavement under the impact. The three turned inward and aimed at their attacker.

"Arrancar, Exacta!" Findorr Calius pointed excitedly at the leader of the group, swishing his long blonde hair theatrically "Bravo, very exceptional for humans. Now," Lilynette heard him become more serious, though the mask covering most of his face obscured his expression "I believe that you may know the whereabouts of my king."

* * *

_Rome, Italy_

Ichigo Kurosaki was on vacation.

Well, not really, but it sure felt like it by comparison. He'd gotten just about zero down time all year between high school and his job for the Xcution organization. This was technically a work trip, but it was mostly waiting around for boring old men to prepare boring old meetings so he was going to make the most of his free time in _freakin Rome! _He was gonna tour the hell out of this place.

Yeah, his classes were in session, but this was for _work_. Way more important, though he hadn't been able to excuse the twins from their school. Yuzu and Karin really wanted to go too, he felt a bit guilty.

A lot guilty, he was gonna have to bring back something awesome for them.

The orange haired young man stepped from the hotel elevator and glanced cautiously around the lobby, if anyone would stop him from invading Rome, it would be here. His wary eye landed on the familiar form of Lucilla Falco, his leash holder for his time in Europe, at the desk.

He would have to avoid his handler. Ichigo knew that she assigned to him for more than just to guide or assist. He was a human weapon, a Fullbringer. Even though Xcution was over two decades old, they still weren't about to let a Fullbringer wander Europe by himself. It rankled the teen's rebellious side, he decided to try to slip out unnoticed.

Unfortunately for Ichigo, the stern woman had already sighted her charge (damned orange hair) and was moving to intercept the teen. "Mr. Kurosaki."

"Haven't seen him, sorry." Ichigo looked away and badly disguised his voice. He attempted to sidestep her, but she managed to stay between him and the door. "Come on, Ms. Falco, the meetings doesn't start for another day."

She skewered him with her stern black eyes "I am responsible for you while abroad. This isn't a sightseeing trip and having you sneaking away to god knows where-"

"God knows where?" Ichigo raised his voice indignantly "It's not like I'm going to get drunk and run naked down the Tiber. I'm going to a few touristy spots for photographs and souvenirs for my sisters." He realized that she had somehow herded him back almost all the way to the elevators. She had been doing that sort of thing ever since he had met her at the airport, ushering him everywhere without him even noticing.

"Please return to your room, Mr. Kurosaki." she gave him a final push and the elevator doors closed between them.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. Just because _she _didn't feel like going out. Fine then, he would just have to do this the _other _way.

Five minutes later, an orange haired teenager jumped from a top floor window, bounced off a ripple of light that formed under his feet, and leapt over an ornate fence, map and camera in hand.

* * *

_Ulquiorra_

Ulquiorra stared at the city spread around him. Alive? He had turned to dust, not even the Inoue girl could have saved him at that point. He had thought he would fade to oblivion over Hueco Mundo , not even purified and reborn to Soul Society like he would have if Kurosaki had listened to him and finished him with a Zanpakuto blow.

He was certainly alive and still in his winged Segunda Etapa form.

He was now in the World of the Living, that much he was sure of. It was daytime but smog and cloud cover gave the city he had awoken to a dark, gloomy feeling. He almost liked it, despite his confusion over being in such a place. He seemed to be atop a tall building with a flat roof and a rail along the edge. Several noisy devices rattled and hummed nearby and a door leading inside was set in an alcove.

"Oi, what'r you doing up here?"

The Espada looked over his shoulder at the voice. A human mid teenager (assuming he was correctly recalling mortal growth rate, he himself was once informed that his own appearance looked around that age as well) was blinking at him through thick glasses from a folding chair, a book of some kind in his hands. He seemed shocked, was this building to his home?

The kid was speaking a language he didn't immediately recognize. Luckily, spiritual beings were beyond the influence of the Babel Effect that plagued the mortal realm, so the Arrancar picked up his meaning with little difficulty. _S__uerte_, as Yammy was fond of saying. Yammy an several other Arrancar enjoyed Spanish. This sounded somewhat like Spanish, but not quite the same. Still, this might pose a problem if a human sighted him.

"You can see me?" It was odd but not unheard of for humans to see his kind. He certainly had enough reiatsu, almost enough to threaten a low level Hollow. Strange. Expanding his senses, it seemed that this was the average level of the humans in this particular area. Even more strange.

"Kinda hard to miss you, your right there and... you've got wings!" The kid pointed at the most prominent feature of Ulquiorra's Segunda Etapa as though the Arrancar himself hadn't noticed.

"I suppose I do." Ulquiorra tilted his head slightly "Where am I, child?"

"Child? You're one to talk, You can't be that much older than, like, sixteen. Anyway this is the top of my apartment building." He ducked his head and looked a bit guilty "I'm not really supposed to be up here bu- WOAH!" the boy jumped up as Ulquiorra sealed his Zanpakuto, helmet like mask and long white coat materializing, wings withering into his back. He smoothly sheathed the sword.

"I was actually asking what city and nation this is." The Arrancar stuck his hands into the pockets that he almost missed while he was released and tilted his head.

The youth ignored him, staring at his zanpakuto. "Cool. Is that your focus? The sword?"

Cool? "Focus?"

He started talking at a million mile an hour. "I've never seen a sword focus before, though I guess I've never seen a clad type either. It's kinda rare, I've heard. I don't know anyone with one anyway, but my Cousin Leo has a... I guess someone like you wouldn't be interested in that, though." He looked a bit embarrassed.

"Like me?"

"Well yeah. Xcution agent, right? All of you guys are in Xcution, Right?"

"No, I am unfamiliar with that term, Xcution."

"Whaaat? How could you not-" the kid stopped, mouth agape and eyes fixed for the first time on the perfectly circular hole at the juncture of Ulquiorra's sternum and clavicles. "Uuh uwah, n-no! Nooo, no, don't hurt me!" he fell on his posterior and scooted back "Noooo." he moaned.

So, the child could recognize an Arrancar, or a Hollow at any rate. "You are not in any danger." The child was sobbing inconsolably, much to Ulquiorra's annoyance. "Be quiet." he snapped, flaring his reitsu slightly and the boy cringed but fell silent, hiding his head. "I do not actually care to hurt you at the moment. Now, tell me where exactly I am."

The boy whimpered but made no response and Ulquiorra shook his head. It didn't really matter where he was or how he had come to the World of the Living, he would simply inform Aizen of the odd occurrence when he returned. Reaching out, he dragged a finger in the air before him but the intended Garganta only partially formed before collapsing and resealing. He frowned and tried again with the same result. Was he trapped? The Espada didn't get much more time to ponder this before a brilliant light broke the gray clouds overhead and fell on him like a spotlight.

"HOLLOW BASED REIATSU SIGNATURE LOCATED" An extremely loud amplified voice announced as a the source of the spotlight descended "SINGLE HOLLOW SUBJECT IDENTIFIED, PROJECTED CASUATLIES... TWENTY SEVEN, CIVILIAN...ZERO, NONCIVILIAN...ONE HOSTILE. ACCEPTABLE CASUALTIES. ABLE CITIZENS ARE ADVISED TO EVACUATE IN 10, 9, 8, 7-"

"Hm? What now?" Was the ear splitting announcement necessary? Maybe for public safety, though the voice seemed accepting of certain casualties. It was an small aircraft hovering on some sort of jet system. He could sense no reiatsu of a pilot within, a drone? Human technology that could measure reishi of any kind should be impossible, most of the World of the Living was, in fact, utterly ignorant of the existence such a matter.

The child was cowering, clearly as afraid of the machine as of the Arrancar, maybe more.

"Aaaah!" the boy screamed. "Noooo! Not here!"

"5, 4..." could it hurt him? Ridiculous. Yet...it recognized his Hollow reiatsu, and the array of tubes and panels on it's underside glowed and hummed in a manner that set off a warning bell in his calm mind. A warning to act.

Ulquiorra raised a hand towards the machine.

"Noooo! Noooo!"

"2, 1... "

"Cero."

* * *

_Szayle Aporro_

Ugh. Sand everywhere. This was why Szayel Aporro Granz didn't like the outdoors. It was in his hair, his clothes, and on the beach of this desert island AS FAR AS HE COULD SEE!

His scream echoed skyward.

"Okay, calm down. It's better than Hell was, right? It's the World of the Living so I just need to open a Garganta and go home." He tapped a finger in the air. Nothing happened.

"Well that didn't work." He informed the small crab he had forged an alliance with. It waved it's claws at him. "No, I'm sorry but I couldn't take you with me, friend. Your physiology is ill adapted to Hueco Mundo, you have gills for crying out loud! Arg!" His attempt to tearfully embrace the crustacean resulted in a claw latching on to his nostril. "Foul fiendish arthropod!"

He decided to forgive his only friend. "I am sorry for my outburst, I realize you were only trying to bring me to my senses."

Szayel plopped down on the beach and glared at the horizon. He could set off in search of a less remote landmass, but that would take time and energy. The Arrancar didn't even know which direction to go. His eyes fell on an object floating some distance out on the ocean. Something frilly and white

"Aaroniero?"

* * *

_Karakura_

The struggle was swift and violent. Blood dripped from Findorr's wrist blades and two of the humans were dead on the sidewalk. The third slumped at the curb, clutching the stump where a hand had once been.

"Ah, so good of you to remain conscious." Findorr smirked "You should come out now." he added with a glance at the hedges.

Lilynette emerged and scowled, brushing dirt from her elbows and knees. "Did Starrk find you?"

"Not at all. I am looking for His Majesty, not your usurper Primera." He reached down and easily lifted the gasping survivor off the ground, legs dangling limply. "I heard one of your men mention him, a man's arm decaying to dust?"

"I-I won't-" the soldier screamed as a wrist blade severed an ear, which Findorr caught as it fell.

"I'm sorry," the Arrancar said conversationally, dangling the ear before the man's eyes by his finger and thumb "I couldn't quite _hear_. Y-you won't?"

"We're supposed to lay low, not engage the humans." Lilynette tried helplessly.

He ignored her "My king?" he asked again.

"They t-took the one you're talking about already."

"Where?"

"I don't." the other ear left the man's head in a spurt of blood and Findorr dangled it too, implying the same joke as before "I really don't know!" he shrieked as Lilynette felt a pang of pity.

"Findorr, that's enough, asshole!"

"Exacta, I believe you, human. That is enough." A blur of his arm later, the soldier's throat opened and welled blood. He sputtered and choked, eyes bulging as he slumped to the ground.

"Fuck." Lilynette muttered. She sighed and turned to drag Charolette from their hiding place. Why couldn't she have run into Harribel's Fraccion, they at least weren't completely homicidal like Baraggan's men.

* * *

_Szayle Aporro_

"Aaroniero, hey." Szayel rapped his knuckle against his fellow Espada's white mask. He stirred and Szayel backed off, not quite ready to trust the Noveno after their last meeting. They had encountered each other in Hell and had not been... amicable.

"You're not going to try eating me again, are you?" Szayle clutched his crab companion protectively. "I _did_ rescue you this time, after all."

The other Arrancar coughed "Unnngh?"

"Aaroniero?" He leaned forward but froze as the tip of a sword pressed into his neck. He had drawn it too silently and quickly for Szayle, who wasn't exactly the skillful fighting type. "Okay, let's just caaaalm down, Aaroniero."

"Who? Who are you?" he gasped "Where the hell? What is- oh, my head." he pulled the tall white mask off and blinked with the eyes of a Shinigami vice-captain in the bright sunlight. "Why am I wearing a mask?"

* * *

_Rome_

Ichigo skidded to a halt. "What the...?" he muttered. His acute senses had detected a reiatsu surge somewhere fairly distant. The horizon faintly flashed green. "...hell was that?"

* * *

**_NumberofWattage_**_- Aaand we're back. That took much longer than I wanted it to. You should see the doc I use to write and edit this, pure chaos with character intros and scenes rewritten all over the place and even bits of the initial concept hidden between paragraphs. I know I'm gonna regret info dumping the alternate universe backstory like that, but things would have gotten horribly confusing down the line. Anyway, now you know our backdrop that we're dealing with and it's gonna factor pretty heavily in future chapters, especially with Ichigo's involvement.  
_


	3. Chapter 3

**The Days of Bone**

Disclaimer: I don't own things like Bleach.

Chap. 3: Over the Night

* * *

_Kaien_

Kaien Shiba dropped the hard white mask that had covered his face until very recently on the sand, squinting in the bright sunlight at the man who had been prodding at him. This guy was an odd one, though to be fair, he'd worked with worse in his time. There was a certain level of weird that seemed required of officers of the Gotei 13, after all. This fellow's hair was pink and disheveled and he had a somewhat effeminate appearance aside from that. He was also clutching desperately at a small crab and stroking it comfortingly, which didn't speak well for his overall sanity.

He almost felt bad drawing his sword on the cringing bespectacled man until he noted the hilt of a sword at his hip. Zanpakuto? He wasn't wearing the uniform black shihakusho, though Kaien himself wasn't either, with an uncomfortable sopping wet white frilled coat. He spared a glance at the mask he had dropped, a tall flat piece with eight tiny holes. It reminded him of a Hollow.

Hollow?

The last thing that he remembered was...

_That Hollow!_ Anger rose in his chest. Or was the last thing... a horrified Rukia Kuchiki? Pain? What?

"Who are you?" Kaien repeated harshly, throat sore from seawater. "Where is Metastacia?"

The man widened his amber eyes "Metastacia? Aaroniero, you're not thinking straight. I need you to-"

"I am not any damn Aaroniero."

"I did tell you before that there was a risk, that a trauma could... now you're under the influence of one of your components." The man winced as Kaien snarled irritably "I don't know! It had to have been what happened in Hell, the trauma..."

The Shinigami coughed several times, lungs itching from the seawater, and tried to control his breathing as he grew lightheaded. Great, now he was acting like Captain Ukitake. Calm down. There was little point in panicking this guy if he was already not making sense. "Alright." he withdrew his blade but didn't sheath it "Assume for a moment that I have no idea where I am or what you're talking about."

"I generally assume that about everyone." The man responded brightly.

* * *

_Karakura_

Starrk stared at a graffitied wall. Someone had rather accurately spray painted the likeness of the Shinigami Captain-Commander across the white public canvas. He wondered vaguely how a human would know the wizened man's face so well, aside from those four who had infiltrated Soul Society. They didn't seem like likely culprits, somehow.

He frowned as his advanced pisquisa reached out across the town. He had discovered an obnoxious Fraccion shortly after Lilynette insisted on splitting up. Abirama Something or other, his odd screaming and dancing was more interesting than his name. The guy had been more reluctant to listen than Vega, but the order of "find Baraggan" seemed to catch his attention. Aside from him, Vega was still moving alone and Lilynette was with another of Baraggan's men. Why were they only finding Baraggan's Fraccion. No Shinigami from either side, No Harribel or her Fraccion, Not Baraggan himself.

Closing his eyes, Starrk noted that several humans were approaching Lilynette's position. Oddly powerful for humans, as he had noticed before, though not the strongest in the area. Even she could overpower them if necessary.

It wasn't necessary. A more powerful Arrancar arrived in the same spot and the human reiatsu dropped considerably. Subtle, Starrk thought wryly. It wasn't one of the Espada, though.

Also, he noted, a more powerful human was standing directly behind him as he searched out the other Arrancar. He had been there for around three minutes and hadn't made a move yet, but was clearly waiting for Starrk's attention.

Sighing, he turned to acknowledge the very tall and dark teenager.

"So, you noticed me." The teen commented in a very deep voice. Starrk recognized this guy from some security footage in Los Noches. He'd been one of the infiltrators to rescue the girl.

"Some time ago, you were kind enough to let me finish."

"I wouldn't attack you unnecessarily, even if you are an Arrancar." his right arm reformed itself into a black and red patterned armor with a tall protrusion on the shoulder "Yasutora Sado, Field Superior of Xcution's Naruki/Karakura Station. Will you make fighting nessecary?"

Starrk debated for a moment "You know," he drawled "If you'd asked yesterday, I might have just surrendered. Today... bye." Yasutora Sado moved with surprising speed, but the Sonido of the Primera made him look like he was standing still. Starrk vanished as the armored fist impacted where he had been an instant before with explosive force.

"Xcution? Something is definitely wrong here." Starrk mused as he traveled at high speed through the air, leaving the bewildered human far behind in seconds. He doubted that Sado could have injured him, but Starrk wasn't for an unnecessary fight when he could simply outrun a slow enemy. He especially didn't want to cause conflict in the bizarre circumstances that only seemed more so the more he heard.

Time to regroup. "Lilynette." he murmered.

Far behind, Sado straightened up silently and looked around. That guy was fast. Much faster and more powerful than anything he had ever encountered. He was normally entirely confidant, even against the Arrancar that had been appearing in the Karakura area in the last few months, but this one was on an entirely different level. He felt sweat slide down his neck and was suddenly grateful that it had escaped rather than fight.

"A very bad time for you to take that trip, Ichigo." He whispered softly.

_Rome_

* * *

Ichigo Kurosaki stuck closely against the wall of one of the buildings along the alley he was taking. It was stupid, but he was trained for caution and hated crowds anyway. Bringer's Light was speeding up his photography tour, but it was a bit tiring and tended to attract attention from other tourists, who recognized the famous prodigy of Xcution pretty easily from his orange hair. He needed to wrap things up before Ms. Falco went on the warpath, too.

Drawing his digital camera, Ichigo flipped past the images he had taken so far. Pretty good, some sculptures, some kind of impressive looking buildings that he almost recognized from a book once. He paused at a picture of a magnificent fountain covered in white sculptures. He hadn't noticed when he snapped it, but, to his slight annoyance, there were some people in front of the subject. The teen snorted and almost passed it up, but looked closer. A pretty woman with a pair of young children hanging from her skirt as a man with a flowery shirt took their picture. A family.

Feeling his throat tighten, he stuffed the small camera back into his pocket. He and the twins should be posing for vacation pictures with their Mom while Dad boisterously bounced around with the camera, gushing over his family. Dad was like that, he remembered distinctly, always taking entire albums of photos to his Tenth division comrades and probably pissing Toshiro off with his endless descriptions of each individual shot. And Mom was... well, she was everything to them. The memories of his eleven year old self were of a perfect family.

Both were gone now. The Yuzu and Karin only had their brother to hang on to. He only had them.

Sighing, he started off again but paused suddenly as he sensed a huge power and saw a soft green flash on the horizon "What the hell was that?" he muttered, photography forgotten for the moment.

He hesitated. His instincts told him that there was a battle going on, but this wasn't his turf. The authority of Pharus in Europe wasn't much for international cooperation and didn't often take kindly to the other branches stomping about and rattling their swords. The glow on the horizon turned orange. Something was burning!

Fuck the jurisdiction, he was a considered a troublemaker anyway. He loosed a long strip of ragged white cloth from above his elbow under his sleeve and wrapped it around his right hand. "Alright, let's go." He muttered. The telltale green light of a fullbringer flickered under his feet as he sped off.

* * *

_Karakura_

"He's an asshole." Lilynette fumed at Starrk as he and Vega unburdened Charolette Chuhlhourne from her arms "Findorr's crazy, Starrk. He just started slashing, then he took off without us."

"Exacta." Vega muttered bitterly.

Starrk gazed at the human corpses and the shocked pluses staring at their own bodies. "He's going to be a problem. Something is weird about this."

"What?"

"I'm not sure. We can't have been unconscious for long, yet I saw someone who should still be in Hueco Mundo. Also, if they switched Karakura with a fake, as Aizen said, then the mass transfer and reishi conversion should have either transferred us with the fake or destroyed us and everything in contact with the town."

Vega gaped uncomprehendingly and Lilynette stared for a moment "So you only pretend not to listen to Szayle Aporro's ramblings, huh?" she muttered dryly.

"The humans are strange, too. They're stronger on average."

"They know things too." She agreed "They called Findorr an Arrancar."

"Did they say anything about Xcution?"

"Hmmm. Oi!" Lilynette hollered at one of the plus soldiers, who started and looked at her in bewilderment. "What's an Xcution?"

"I-I'm not telling you anything"

"Fine, then I'll eat you!" she gnashed her teeth comically, causing the man and his buddies to cower and Starrk to roll his eyes. Leaving Lilynette to terrorize the pluses, he tossed Charolette on the pavement and crouched beside him. He appeared to be sleeping deeply and Starrk found himself jealous.

Ggio Vega scowled at his unconscious comrade "He's not injured."

"His reiryoku is critical." Starrk responded curtly "He should be dead."

"What else is new?" Vega joked. He flinched at the Primera's irate glance. "I just mean that _we_ were... nevermind." he backed away a few paces and sat on the curb to sulk. He had never interacted much with this particular Espada, Coyote Starrk tended to avoid Fraccion and Numeros altogether, but he already demonstrated an ability shared in Ulquiorra and Harribel. When properly motivated, the Primera could stop even Baraggan's loyal servants in their tracks with a look.

The Espada suddenly stood bold upright. "Who's that?" he snapped glaring at the corner, where someone was hidden in the darkness out of the streetlight. Two rather small figures stumbled over each other as they emerged from hiding and Vega sonidoed between them and grasped their arms, thrusting them into the light.

"A-an Espada?" one of the two nearly identical girls stammared, rubbing the arm where Vega had grabbed her. They clearly Arrancar now that they were no longer hiding their power. "We're saved!"


End file.
